Recently I was at a Pony Club meeting and overheard a well known local trainer discussing ponies and how shetland ponies are unsuited for children.

She stated that they were bred to pull carts into mines and were not bred for riding. Part of what she said is true, the original Shetland pony was bred for pulling, which also meant these little mights were bred with a calm and willing-to-please disposition. Over the years, especially in the U.S., theses ponies were increasingly bred to show and respond more like the Arabian horse in the ring. This was accomplished by breeding back to closely related stock causing many of the traits for high strung and animated actions to be increased. I am not talking about these show ponies in this article. Rather, I am talking about the typical Shetland pony, generally unregistered, that is found in myriad backyards across the U.S. Europe, and Canada. So, with that in mind, lets get on with it!

Let's think about this:

   1. Who trains them?
   2. Who rides them?
   3. What happens when
        they don't do what adults
         think they should?

Most ponies are at least halter
trained when purchased by a
family for the kids. Some have
been ridden to some degree. Many have very bad habits they have learned in order to avoid being ridden and/or handled. The fact is, most ponies don't get the training a big horse gets. This is because they are too small for most adults to ride. So, they don't learn to obey the bit, leg cues, voice commands and the body posture of the rider. Grown ups often don't take the time to work with the pony, spending time making sure it knows its job. When the little horse runs off with the kid and someone gets hurt the loser is usually the pony. Many are abused out of anger, frustration and misunderstanding. This causes the pony to avoid being ridden out of fear. As the situation progresses the pony is ruined and ALL ponies are dubbed "evil".

The solution to this is to take the time with the pony to teach
it what is expected of it. Our foals are imprinted as soon as
they are born. They are petted, loved, halter broke at a very
young age. They are humanely taught not to bite, kick or rear up.
We handle them all over their bodies from the first day.
We pick up the feet, lift the tail, scratch the back, rub under
the tummy, touch the ears, look at the mouth. We do this
a lot as the baby grows.

When it is leading well, usually about 3 months, we begin to
take it for walks away from the mare. We don't stay gone long,
but be sure that it is relying on us for security. We reach over
its back and touch its flank, let it graze, show it something new
(like a scary garbage can). The baby relies on us for protection
because it trusts us, we are its substitute mother.

At  5 months we put a surcingle or bareback pad on the youngster.  Soon it is used to the feel of the girth. We begin ground driving with one person leading and one driving. The reins are attached to the side rings of the halter. After a couple of times the pony will move out on its own. All the time we cue it by voice and rein. "Gitty up", "whoa", "walk"..."good baby"...all these communicate to the pony that it is on the right track. It is important to praise the animal frequently. Give it a gentle rub, a scratch or kind word.

By 1 year old the pony has been ground driven with the snaffle bit, had a pony saddle on and never had a bucking freak out. By 2 years the pony is pulling a light weight cart with the driver walking behind. After 2 years of age the driver gets in the cart. This pony has learned through ground work and voice training to obey the person, not its own wants.

At this stage a rider is put on the pony and led around. This
is usually no problem because the little horse has had all the
preliminary work done. The rider is a kid, usually about 7
years old. An adult leads the pony and another adult holds
on to the child just in case the pony gets scared.
This goes on until the trainer is sure the pony isn't going
to buck. They really don't buck very often because there
is a lot of TRUST in the relationship between the pony
and the trainer. When the stage is reached of security on
the trainer's behalf the pony is led around without the adult
holding the child but walking close. Eventually the second adult is not needed. The reins are turned over to the young rider with instructions on how to turn and stop using the reins and voice commands. Voice commands are very important because the pony can be controlled by an adult on the ground at a distance in case a young rider doesn't know what to do.

Pretty soon the pony and rider are getting along great on their own. The next step is teaching the pony to neck rein. This is done by crossing the reins under the pony's chin. When the rein is laid against the neck the pressure is exerted on the opposite side of the mouth. It is basically the same pressure as direct reining. The pony is worked up against a fence the same way as a big horse, using the same leg cues. If the pony is big enough and/or the trainer is small enough, the trainer can finish the pony quite nicely. That is what we do with ours.

When we acquire an abused or untrained adult pony we use the same steps, taking time to earn the pony's trust. We have had a few like this and all but one turned into a nice pony.

These principles work with big horses, too. Let's give our ponies a chance. They are valuable friends for children and can be as trustworthy as any horse.

The Shetland Pony - Getting a Bad Rep